THE COMMUNITY has rallied to help fund repairs to a village church after its lead roof was stolen by thieves.
St Chad’s Church in Bishops Tachbrook was targeted twice in one night when thieves took nearly all the lead from the roof forcing it to close when it rained.
Rev Elaine Scrivens says the replacement cost for a stainless steel roof at the Mallory Road church would be some £80,000 with only £15,000 paid by insurers as there was no alarm or CCTV.
But since the theft in June the community has been fund-raising to help find the money and has raised some £12,000 towards the repairs.
This includes donations from Bishop’s Tachbrook Primary School, local churches St Margaret’s and St Nicholas’, and housing association L&Q.
Rev Scrivens said: “We were devastated when this happened. We were in the middle of a service when someone came in and alerted us to the incident, and we discovered that two-thirds of the lead had been removed.
“The silver lining of this incident has been the wonderful way this has brought the village together.”
Visit www.bishopstachbrook.com/st-chads or email [email protected] to donate or find out more.
